*This post was sponsored by Ling Ling, all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Weekday dinners during the school year can be quite hectic. Why? For starters, my girls after school schedules are truly jam packed with all sorts of events and more. Plus, we all seem to be on different time schedules even work wise as a family.

Yet, family dinners are truly essential and crucial to try to have whenever possible.

But to cook from scratch for family meals can just add time to our crazed schedules we just don’t have.

So, for that reason I have found a few sure fire ways to make family dinners possible. Plus, every so often special celebrations are in order for family dinner time, as well.

And what better time to aid in making family meals possible not only for our family, but yours, too.

Now, I am going to share 7 ways how to make time for special family dinners…

1. Don’t eat on the go.

During the school year, I admit there are times that we can’t avoid eating on the go. But right now more than ever we are trying to eat less on the go. Therefore, in doing so we can enjoy family dinners more often than not.

2. Helps with healthy eating habits.

Since we aren’t eating on the go with fast food and such, we can eat healthier on the whole. With doing so, I am able to get more balanced, portioned meals into my family. Plus, fruits an veggies are consumed more and more with family dinners.

3. Conversation as a family unit occurs.

What is more important than talking and discussing things together as a family? Well, family dinners were made for this. Why? Because when we all come together around the dinner table, we are able to be present physically, as well as mentally, too. Therefore, this enables us to talk and discuss the days events and more with each as a family.

4. Stress reliever for all.

By taking the time to sit and relax together to eat a meal, we are also able to relax. See there is no rushing for dinner time meals. Just being able to take the time to eat a meal as a family helps to alleviate any stress that having to go out to obtain dinner would create.

5. Save money not eating out of the home.

Just as family dinners are stress relievers, this is also a way to save money. See going out to dinner or picking up fast food usually costs more on the wallet than going to the grocery store to pick up essential items to make healthy, family dinners. Plus, many times family favorites are on sale with coupons and more.

6. Time to try new foods as a family.

Not only is this a time to enjoy tried and true family favorites, but also a time to add some family meals into the rotation to become new favorites for all in the family. Plus, even celebrate some fun, new family meal traditions.

One such new food we recently tried was Ling Ling Fried Rice and Ling Ling Potstickers that I found on a recent shopping trip to our local Stop and Shop.

See Ling Ling Fried Rice comes in five unique dishes, as follows:

• Yakitori Chicken

• Yakiniku Beef

• Thai-Style Chicken

• Chinese-Style Vegetable (Our Family Favorite)

• Bibimbap Beef

What did we love about Ling Ling Fried Rice?

These fried rice dishes are all based on pure and authentic Asian inspired recipes from Japan, China, Korea and Thailand. They honestly taste so good! But why does it taste so good? Because of the way they cook it. Because their new infusion cooking method allows for incredible flavor in every bite. So much so that we had trouble tasting the difference between Ling Ling Fried Rice and our favorite Asian restaurant favorites! Actually I think, we all agreed that we actually prefer Ling Ling.

How about Ling Ling Potstickers?

Well-known and well-loved Ling Ling potstickers are made with delectable chicken or pork, and tender vegetables expertly combined in a mouthwatering dumpling wrapper.

Each comes with Ling Ling signature dipping sauce.

We tend to lean towards chicken potstickers as a family. But both are equally delicious.

Want to try Ling Ling Fried Rice and Ling Ling Potsticker for your next special family dinner?

Instructions

Once pan is heated add shrimp to grill for 3-4 minutes on both sides until pink.

Then, mix shrimp and Ling Ling Rice.

Last serve for a fun family meal experience.

Plus this is just in time for Chinese New Year that is upcoming.

What is the Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year is a traditional and very important Chinese holiday. Unlike New Year’s Day here, it is a movable holiday, because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar. So it is based on using both the moon phase and the solar year for when it is celebrated. Plus it is not only a major holiday for the Chinese people, but also the longest festival in the Chinese calendar. See it can last up to 15 days. During the Chinese New Year, some customs and superstitions prevail. One such superstition is as follows: Refraining from using foul language or bad words on NewYear’s Day or they will follow you throughout the year. One of the customs during this time is distributing Red Envelopes, which signify Joy and Luck. These envelopes are filled with money to start the year with prosperity.

7. Family Games, too!

While we eat very often my girls also want to play fun games during and even more so after dinner. So, for a Chinese New Year Themed Special Dinner, I created a fun Chinese New Year Bingo Printable Game Board. See my girls absolutely love playing Bingo. Of course, I am including my Free Chinese New Year Bingo Printable for all my readers below, too.

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About Janine

Janine is a published author of the books, The Mother of All Meltdowns and Only Trollops Shave Above the Knee. She has been featured on The Huffington Post, Mamapedia, Today Parenting Team and SheKnows. She also runs her own graphic design company at J9 Designs.

Bev and I eat lunch together…neither of us eats breakfast….but dinners are usually separately because of our schedules. We tend to eat on the run….the bingo game looks like fun….anyway, Happy Tuesday, Janine. I have to go take care of some little quail newborns.

We love Ling Ling and have been trying to make more time for family dinners. My husband usually leaves for work in the afternoon, so most times I have dinner with the kids, but when we do have our family dinners all electronics are put away and we focus on family time.

Yum! I hadn’t heard of the Ling Ling brand, but now I need to try it. I am a huge fan of potstickers. Those delicious little morsels of goodness make me super happy 🙂 Love the bingo game card. I was driving around yesterday and the radio DJ said that last week was the week people officially forgot about their new year’s resolutions, so I ought to just full on go ahead with Chinese New Year!

I am all for family dinners. I had tried hard to make dinner time FAMILY TIME with no phones. This is a challenge for teenagers and young adults.
By the way, these POT STICKERS are our favorite. I fry them in my air fryer with a teaspoon of oil. They come out perfect. LOVE my Ling Ling Pot Sticker and my air fryer. It is a win-win family dinner.
Blessings,
Diane